City of Springfield, MO attempts to disband homeless encampment

[xmas74]

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20111117/NEWS01/111170364/Larry-Rice-homeless-campground?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News

The city filed a petition Wednesday asking a judge to permanently bar the Rev. Larry Rice and his New Life Evangelistic Center from violating city ordinance and housing the homeless at a downtown property.

A separate motion filed at the same time seeks a temporary restraining order preventing Rice from using the Jefferson Avenue property illegally while the case is considered.

[teddy51]

1. Let me guess, the oposition are Republican's! Oh, but they are Christians I am certain.

What a bunch of Bullshit artists.

[xmas74]

2. I don't know the full story yet.

I know the camp is run by an Evangelical preacher and that this is about to become a huge blow up over the next few weeks.

I read the original story in the local student newspaper and did a Google search for the Springfield article.

[teddy51]

3. I understand why some might object to this, but these people have got to live

some where. We are not anywhere close to as bad as it is going to get, so what do these people do to survive? Seriously, I see Communes coming next big time so that people can survive.

[xmas74]

4. A coworker used to live on a commune

She recently stated the same-that communes will become more common, not as an "alternative lifestyle" but as a way for people to survive. She stated that one of the smartest things some of the recent local college grads could do is to get together and buy a small acreage of land, put some old trailers on it as a temp fix, and then each work on small houses as each is able to afford them. She made a comment about how if they all went in together on the price of the land, all worked together on building small homes, and all worked together on large gardens and maybe the raising of some livestock they'd be in decent shape, even with the low paying jobs in our area.

The problem is finding a group of people who could handle living together, who are willing to split finances, and are willing to be reevaluate their old dreams.

[The Genealogist]

5. I live in Springfield. This action is no surprise to me.

Springfield is a very conservative city, full to overflowing with the kind of people who think people are homeless because they are bad/lazy/won't work/evil drug addicts/drunks/deserve what they get. This is not the first time there has been a ruckus raised over homeless people and where they stay. Lots of NIMBY attitudes. A lot of homeless services (shelters, places to eat, etc) are concentrated on Commercial Street, and these service providers run into opposition from people who want to gentrify the street. I could go on. I respect Rev. Rice for going out on a limb and helping those who so desperately need it. I'm not a Christian, but I can't help admiring someone who so well exemplifies Jesus' teachings and actions concerning the poor and needy.

[ellisonz]

6. My father's family hails from Springfield...

...and I concur that Springfield is a very conservative city. I read the comments on the article and it presents compelling arguments both for and against the encampment. I think the city needs to come up with a concrete plan for somewhere for these people to go before shutting it down. :shrug:

[The Genealogist]

7. I liked the idea about the old school from the comments

Yes, it is not in the greatest condition right now. It could be fixed up. I know that is a long-term kind of idea, and homeless people need help RIGHT NOW, but it seems a good idea to consider. It would mean one less abandoned building, and a safer, warmer place where food could be served, people could sleep, get cleaned up, there could be a library. I will be realistic, such a thing would be NIMBYed to death in Springfield.

I also want to say that not EVERYONE in Springfield has nasty attitudes about homeless people. There was an article the other day in the paper about a homeless man who died, and the article noted that people who came into one restaurant put money on a tab (the owner included!) so the guy could have something to eat, one man bought him haircuts, and the guy made enough of an impact on people that some want to put up a memorial to him at a bus stop he visited.

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011111150349

I wish more heartless people would realize that it is not impossible for them to someday be homeless.

[ellisonz]

8. I think they don't realize that they're really just one bad day away from it.

Be it losing their job or a major medical illness. There's a certain arrogance to it. I think Fundamentalist Christianity has a role in that belief in so far as it promotes a sense of fatalism - rooted in miracles and salvation in the afterlife. Doesn't mean they're bad people - but they just don't quite have their heads screwed on straight.

My aunt still lives in Mt. Vernon. She's a good person. :-)

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. Hubby's family is from Mt Vernon

His great grandfather was the publisher of the newspaper.

[xmas74]

14. I'm just a couple of hours north of Springfield.

My city is smaller but is also a college town. They have a similar attitude.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. And it's the mega church capital of America

Every time I am in Springfield and I see all those gaudy mega churches, I can't help but wonder how much they cost and how many homeless people that money could have helped, how many hungry people could have been fed . . .

[The Genealogist]

21. There is at least one here that has firework spectacles

and other big rah-rah bashes that are little more than opportunities to "grow the church." There is one that is very posh, modern, constantly expanding, adding new campuses. One church had a spire put on their building that was so massive that it broke the crane. Many churches do have at least some community outreach. But considering the obviously amazing amount of money that some of these churches around here spend glorifying themselves and finding more people to join up and bring in even more money, I am left in full agreement with you: imagine how many people could be fed and sheltered with that money.

[MADem]

9. He should call it a "Religious Retreat" as opposed to "Sheltering the Homeless."

Hell, he's a reverend, he might as well use that fact to his advantage.

All he has to do is give everyone a passage from the Bible to contemplate as they pray in the isolation of their tents, under the stars, to be closer to God. Or some such crap.

Hell, he's the guy with the religious background, he can come up with some bullshit to back them off.

[xmas74]

15. From what I understand

they were really riding his case about this encampment.

Springfield is the home of the Assemblies of God-anything apart from what they believe isn't viewed all that well.

[ellisonz]

20. +1

:spray:

[MadHound]

10. Good for Rev. Rice.

I disagree with his religious views, but the fact of the matter is that he walks the walk. The money he raises goes into helping people, not enriching himself.

Doesn't surprise me that this is happening in Springfield, it is the asshole of the world, a hyper conservative city that houses the world headquarters for Assembly of God churches, Jerry Falwell's alma mater, and many, many religious fundies. Not to mention being meth capital of country.

If I've got my bearings straight, it looks like this center is within spitting distance of the most prominent Disciples of Christ church in the city. No wonder the pressure is on, Rice is making the other churches look bad.

[xmas74]

16. I'm about two hours north.

A friend is now in Springfield and she made a similar comment. I don't think she's too happy about living there anymore. It sounds like she'll be happy to finish her masters and get out of town.

[MadHound]

22. Springfield is a hell hole of a city.

I lived there for four years back in the eighties, and despised every moment I lived in that town. It hasn't improved with time either. Filled with religious, hypocritical, fanatics, racists and fascist conservatives, I avoid the place like the plague.

Sorry for your friend down there, why did she decide on Mo State or Drury for her masters? Mo State is a horrible school, and Drury isn't much better. I degree from either school is barely worth the paper it is printed on, especially Mo State.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. But there's LAMBERT'S!!

I swear I would eat there daily if I lived in Springfield.

http://www.throwedrolls.com/

[MadHound]

25. Not even close to a decent reason to live in that pit

There are actually a lot of decent-very good eateries in Springfield for the simple reason that Springfield has been a retail test market for decades now. Every new chain, every new product generally comes to Springfield first. Some are decent, a few are great, most are crap. But I've seen some of the weirdest flavors come through the stores.

Still, not a good reason to live there. But some people swear it is the best town in the country. I tend to shy away from those folks, because they tend to by hyper religious, hyper conservatives, or mentally unstable.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. We're a test market here too

I just close my eyes as we drive to Lambert's to avoid seeing the mega churches along the highway. :)

[JanMichael]

27. holy cow; my wife could have written this post

almost verbatim...she managed to get out in 1993...before we met. We went back once...driving through...stopped at her only "good memory" place, Bass Pro, and even that place is hellish now. It used to be full of local wildlife artist stuff...nice, affordable clothing, big fish aquariums, and Hemingways was pretty good... Now? It looks like a KMart. Junk. Just garbage. We told the waittress that, and she said she hears it from people all the time.

Sad.

Springfield is such an ugly town, with a bad attitude. What's sad is how many nice folks live there...and they dislike the attitudes too.

[xmas74]

29. She decided on Mo State because she had a family member

in the area. They had a place that they were willing to rent to her and her children for a very low price. And she thought there would be a better chance of her finding a job to work while she was working on her masters,compared to where she earned her bachelors. There are no jobs in this town whatsoever and the promise of a job while in school is what she needed. Of course, that didn't pan out either and she now says she was better off while working fast food and living up here.

My town's conservative (really conservative but military tends to be). It's a college town and a military town. If you're not affiliated with the college or with the Air Force you just don't fit in. And our college (UCM but was once CMSU) is conservative compared with others. Difference is, a degree from there will get you a job throughout the KC area and will carry over into St Louis.

[lunatica]

11. How about creating jobs so the homeless can help themselves?

How about stop thinking of the homeless as useless or something to 'manage' or push around or get rid of or disband or hide or run off? How about looking at the problem and trying to solve it in a way that the problem goes away?

This entire thread is about pushing them away in some way. The homeless are our neighbors. Our relatives. Children. The elderly.

[xmas74]

12. There are no jobs in the area right now.

A friend looked in Springfield just over the summer, along with most of the state. Nothing there right now, which is why I'm not surprised to hear that the homeless population is rising instead of falling in the city.

The problem is that there are no real jobs available right now in most of Missouri. The jobs available are mostly low wage. Springfield has the added issue of it being a large college town, meaning that rents in the city can be quite expensive-usually far more than what most low wage workers can make.

I don't want to push anyone away but I know that times are rough in my state. I hate to see anyone without a place to place their heads at night but if it has to happen I'd prefer to see some semblance of safety by way of an encampment. Hopefully in the near future there can be a better solution.

[MadHound]

23. A few corrections,

First, Springfield is NOT a college town. A college town is one where the community revolves around an educational institution. Springfield revolves around religion. It is the World Headquarters for the Assembly of God church. It is rife with other religious organizations, including Jerry Falwell's alma mater, Bible Baptist College. The residents of that town despise intelligence in any form. And the economy is more dependent upon manufacturing, retail and construction than it is upon educational institutions. The rents are high because the landlords collude to keep them that way.

The rest of the state isn't as bad as Springfield. Overall, unemployment is running at about 8.5%, and in the one true college town in the state, Columbia, it is running at six percent, and most of the jobs available there aren't low wage service jobs. I can't speak for KC or St. Louis, but I'm sure the situation is better than in Springfield, where the housing bubble killed the economy. Springfield thought it could continue to develop forever, beyond the James River, Nixa, just go on and on. It killed the economy when that collapsed, and it's not going to recover for awhile.

Homelessness is not just a problem in Springfield, but it is also looked upon as an individual, moral failing. Thus, it isn't properly addressed as it is elsewhere. The homeless population is left to fend for itself, outside a few dedicated religious groups. The city's method for dealing with the homeless is to keep them confined to Commercial Street, then otherwise ignore them.

[xmas74]

28. I'll give you that.

The town revolves around religion but most who move to the area are (initially) because of Mo State. Most of the people I know who went there have stated that the jobs market is shot-mostly low wage unless it's a "who you know" situation.

My town is a college/military town. All jobs are either on campus or on the base and all businesses are aimed towards the college students. All rents are set with the idea of having college students with multiple room mates and most jobs here are very low pay. People are ecstatic that someone might be building a motel and restaurant combo which will offer jobs paying an average of 16,000 a year in my town-it made the front page of the paper.

Personally, I was never impressed with Springfield. I have friends who still live there and they aren't overly impressed with it either.

[The Genealogist]

13. Update from evening news

Lead story: Rev. Rice agreed to take down camp. It is not there. It is not clear where the people camping in the parking lot are going tonight, but the city gov't is trying to help find places for them. Very sad. Rev. Rice is getting a petition together to get some land rezoned for a camp like the one he had.

[xmas74]

18. It's supposed to be another cold night

but not as cold as last night and the night before.

I hope they actually find permanent structures with working heat and running water for them all to sleep in tonight and every night, but I won't hold my breath.